1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a voice coil motor (“VCM”) plate of a disk drive. In particular, this invention relates to an integrally formed elongated protrusion extending from a voice coil motor plate for securing a flex bracket to the disk drive base free of using any fastener.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Related Information
A huge market exists for disk drives such as hard disk drives for mass-market host computer systems such as servers, desktop computers, and laptop computers. To be competitive in this market, a hard disk drive must be relatively inexpensive, and must accordingly embody a design that is adapted for low-cost mass production. In addition, it must provide substantial capacity, rapid access to data, and reliable performance. Numerous manufacturers compete in this huge market and collectively conduct substantial research and development, at great annual cost, to design and develop innovative hard disk drives to meet increasingly demanding customer requirements.
Each of numerous contemporary mass-market hard disk drive models provides relatively large capacity, often in excess of 40 gigabytes per drive. Nevertheless, there exists substantial competitive pressure to develop mass-market hard disk drives that have even higher capacities and that provide rapid access. Another requirement to be competitive in this market is that the hard disk drive must conform to a selected standard exterior size and shape often referred to as a “form factor.” Generally, capacity is desirably increased without increasing the form factor or the form factor is reduced without decreasing capacity.
Satisfying these competing constraints of low-cost, small size, high capacity, and rapid access requires innovation in each of numerous components and methods of assembly including methods of assembly of various components into certain subassemblies. Typically, the main assemblies of a hard disk drive are a head disk assembly and a printed circuit board assembly.
The head disk assembly includes an enclosure including a disk drive base and a cover, at least one disk having at least one recording surface, a spindle motor for causing each disk to rotate, and an actuator arrangement. The printed circuit board assembly includes circuitry for processing signals and controlling operations. Actuator arrangements can be characterized as either linear or rotary; substantially every contemporary cost-competitive small form factor drive employs a rotary actuator arrangement.
With reference to FIG. 9, a prior art disk drive 200 includes a cover 202, a disk drive base 204, and a printed circuit board assembly 206 attached to disk drive base 204. Disk drive 200 further includes a spindle motor 208, a disk 210 having top 212 and bottom 214 recording surfaces, a head stack assembly 226, and a voice coil motor plate arrangement including an upper voice coil motor plate 216 having an upper permanent magnet 218 and a lower voice coil motor plate 220 having a lower permanent magnet 222. Head stack assembly 226 includes an actuator body 228, a pair of actuator arms 230, 232, a coil portion 242, and a flex circuit assembly having a flex bracket 244, also known as a “flex clamp.” Head stack assembly 226 pivots relative to a pivot axis 246 defined by a bore within actuator body 228. A pair of head gimbal assemblies 234, 236 are attached to the pair of actuator arms 230, 232. Head gimbal assembly 234 includes a slider (also known as a “head”) 238 and head gimbal assembly 236 includes a slider 240.
As shown in FIG. 9, flex bracket 244 is attached to disk drive base 204 via a pair of metal screws 248 which are disposed through a pair of corresponding holes in flex bracket 244 and corresponding threaded holes in disk drive base 204. However, such screws use valuable manufacturing time during assembly of the head disk assemblies and have the potential to increase contamination within the interior of the head disk assemblies by generating particulates.